It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens
Summary: In It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens Danah Boyd explores tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Ultimately, boyd argues that society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers’ ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions.http://www.danah.org/itscomplicated/ Quotes: "Networked publics are publics both in the spatial sense and in the sense of an imagined community." pg 9 "Reality is nuanced and messy, full of pros and cons. Living in a networked world is complicated." pg. 16 "Increasing regulation means that there aren't as many public spaces for teens to gatger. The mall, once one of the main hubs for suburban teens, is much less accessible now than it once was." pg 21 "When teens interact with social media, they must regularly contend with collapsed context and invisible audiences..." pg 31 "The Imagined audience defines the social context." pg. 32 "Social media has introduced a new dimension to the well-worn fights over private space and personal expression." pg. 54 “Teens are looking for a place of their own to make sense of the world beyond their bedrooms. social media has enabled them to participate in and help create… networked publics” pg 10 Questions to ask: How old were you when you received your first cell phone? If you don't own a cell phone why is that? Do you own a laptop or tablet? What are the common uses for your laptop or tablet? Are you a member of any social networking sites? How many and what do you use them for? Which social networking sites do you interact with daily? How much time do you spend engaged on social network sites? How many minutes do you spend on your phone per day? How much time do you spend on the internet talking to friends per day? Whom do you talk to when you are texting, blogging or on social media sites? What social media platforms can you not go a day without? How does social media affect your daily activities? How have social media platforms such as Yik Yak affected the ways that bullying occur online? What do you think is the role of Facebook to monitor and respond to online bullying? Why do you think people are more prone to bully others online? How old were you when you signed up for your first social media website? How old were you when you first encountered chat rooms? Where their rules to using the internet in your household? If so, did these beneficial or did they hinder your presence on new media? How does the visibility affect the content you decide to share on social media platforms? Central Themes Featured primarily in chapters three and four, this overall factor of how parents monitor their child's usage of the internet. Either parents seem to care not enough or they care too much and are on the edge of technofear. Is there a grey area, and if so what does this grey area entail? The idea of a public space were teens are able to congregate; enables them to communicate with people of different perspectives and characteristics. Boyd really dwells into this concept, because she notes, it is an escape mechanism were teens turn to to find their position, role and understanding of society.